August 17, 2018

National Democrats rally for Heinrich

Prominent Democratic U.S. Senators are blasting out their support for Martin Heinrich after the entry of former Governor Gary Johnson shook up the U.S. Senate race.

Johnson made his first public comments Thursday.

On Friday, Elizabeth Warren,Kirsten Gillibrand and others tweeted support for incumbent Martin Heinrich—and criticisms of Johnson.

Warren, a progressive Democrat from Massachusetts though to be considering a run for president in 2020, tweeted, “Gary Johnson – who’s supported abolishing the minimum wage, raising the Social Security retirement age, & gutting health care – jumped into the New Mexico Senate race against my friend Martin Heinrich.”

Gillibrand, another Senator who may run for president in 2020, wrote in a tweet thread that Heinrich “has been a champion in our fights for better health care, better education opportunities and better jobs. We can’t afford to lose his voice right now and let Gary Johnson take New Mexico backward at the expense of working families, so we need to rush Martin our support.”

Both included fundraising links for Heinrich’s campaign.

Heinrich also enlisted Maine U.S. Senator Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, in a video on Twitter. King said he wouldn’t tell New Mexicans how to vote, but praised the first-term Democrat from New Mexico.

King said that Heinrich is “a son-of-a-bitch when it comes to advocating for the state of New Mexico.”

Ignored in all of this? Republican candidate Mick Rich. If Democrats see a challenge to Heinrich this November, it comes from the Libertarian Party, not the Republican Party.

The U.S. Department of Defense listed military construction projects from across the world that could lose funding under a national emergency declaration by President Donald Trump. Included among those are projects at military facilities in New Mexico.

After inspecting absentee ballots from the 2nd Congressional District’s most-populous county, Republican Yvette Herrell decided not to challenge the results of the election she lost to Democrat Xochitl Torres Small in November. Herrell announced the news Monday, the deadline to challenge the results.

The flood of U.S. Senate polls since Gary Johnson entered the race continued this week. Two new partisan polls show different visions of the U.S. Senate race, but both show the incumbent leading while the insurgent Libertarian candidate trails in third place.

President Donald Trump made a number of remarks during an event honoring Navajo Code Talkers that have drawn condemnation. Trump met with three Navajo Code Talkers in the Oval Office, in front of a portrait of Andrew Jackson.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said she was going to take the "shackles" off the state's film industry by removing an annual $50 million cap on tax rebate payouts to eligible production companies that film in the state. While she didn't exactly get her wish, Senate Bill 2 comes close.

Matthew Reichbach is the editor of the NM Political Report. The former founder and editor of the NM Telegram, Matthew was also a co-founder of New Mexico FBIHOP with his brother and one of the original hires at the groundbreaking website the New Mexico Independent. Matthew has covered events such as the Democratic National Convention and Netroots Nation and formerly published, “The Morning Word,” a daily political news summary for NM Telegram and the Santa Fe Reporter.
Matthew has appeared as a panelist for the Society of Professional Journalists’ New Mexico Chapter’s panel on covering New Mexico politics and the legislature.
A native New Mexican from Rio Rancho, Matthew’s family has been in New Mexico since the 1600s.